


I'll Always Find You

by ecoscience



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, The Mandalorian (TV)
Genre: Bc I'm Trans and Im making represenation, Gen, M/M, Mandalorian Culture, Rating might go up, We're building up from kid to current canon timeline, Young Din Djarin, character backstory, cheesey name, i guess its slow burn, trans original character
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-09
Updated: 2020-11-09
Packaged: 2021-03-08 20:15:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,938
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27472606
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ecoscience/pseuds/ecoscience
Summary: Din Djarin is a foundling and at first struggles in his new culture, but after making friends with a boy his age he begins to flourish among the Mandalorians. Becoming friends with this boy changes his life forever, and he realizes that they seem to be best when they are together. A story of our Mandalorian through growing up, great changes, challenges and hardships up to finding his own foundling and beyond.
Relationships: Din Djarin & Cara Dune, Din Djarin/Original Male Character(s)
Kudos: 13





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Well, here it is. This story is my baby. I feel like a fool saying that but I have such cool and fun plans. I only hope that others will enjoy it as well. I tried my best to follow what lore I could scrounge up with taking some of my own liberties for ease of plot content.
> 
> Anything in Italics is being spoken in Mando'a. There is a bit of dialog so it felt unnecessary to translate it.
> 
> There some fun twists, surprises and building going to happen and I'm so excited.
> 
> Also sorry for the paragraphs not being indented. Its ugly but AO3's text uploading is.... dismal

He sat at a picnic table, a small plate of food in front of him. He had not eaten much of what was on the tray. Some sort of steamed vegetable, some meat and bread and a round soft fruit. They looked okay, but he hardly had an appetite. He took a bite of the bread, remembering what his guardian had told him about having to keep his strength up.

It was explained to him upon his arrival that this place was a center of training for the fighting corps. He had been living here in this small city outpost for a short bit of time now with a guardian who was his assigned caretaker. As per mandalorian code, he was a foundling. He was to be protected until he was of age to swear to the code or returned to his own people.

"I don't think I have people anymore," He explained. "I think I'd like to stay here." And so that was arranged for the young boy.

He let out a sigh, and took a sip of his water before gazing about. He was in a large courtyard surrounded by a U shaped building. There were many other children here, some younger and some old enough to have made their pledge to the creed. He watched them mill about peacefully, his eyes ending up on a group of children playing a game with a ball.

He had learned that this game was called limmie, and while it looked like fun, he was not sure he was ready to have fun at that moment. His heart still felt heavy at the events that occurred only a few weeks ago. Losing his parents, being rescued, being taken to a foreign place. He felt secure here, but also a bit lost. It was all a lot to process for a child.

He was not stupid. He did not have to ask the adults who rescued him what had happened. He knew his parents were gone, his home and his people, destroyed. It did not make much sense to him to try to go back. But it was hard to truly wrap his head around. He was just trying to exist in this new place without feeling overwhelmed and the idea of asking the other children to play just seemed like a bit too much.

“ _ Who are you? _ ”

Din jumped when he heard the voice, his heavy cloud of thought was wisped away. The unfamiliar voice speaking in Mando’a had startled him. He turned to see a child about the same age as him. He took a moment to observe them. They had dark shaggy hair, goldish brown eyes and wore a simple cloth tunic and pants set much like his own. The other child’s clothes appeared dirtier than his, however. Fresh with grass stains and some dirt spotting on the knees.

_ “I haven’t seen you around here before.” _ They spoke again.

“Oh, I'm sorry. I don’t speak Mando'a very well yet.” Din replied, cupping his hands around each other in his lap. He did not actually speak much of it at all. He had only been here for a short time and was mostly spoken to in basic. He was grateful that the people of Mandalore were willing to speak to him in his own language. He was sure he was going to learn in depth how to speak the Mando’a language soon enough, but for now speaking a language he knew made things easier.

“I speak basic too!” The other child assured him. “Not as good as you probably.” He had a thick accent to his voice. “I was asking who you are. I don't remember seeing you before.” Din felt hesitant to answer. The only people he had spoken to since he arrived were his rescuers, his guardian and his teachers. He swallowed a small lump in his throat and curled his fingers around the edges of the sleeves of his long sleeved tunic.

“I’m Din.”

“I’m Razmuth!” The other child introduced themself.  _ “Nice to meet you!”  _ Din recognized that phrase and repeated it in Mando’a.

“ _ Nice to meet you.”  _ Din cracked a smile, though it was a bit meak. “That’s a neat name.”

“Thanks! I picked it out!” Razmuth explained.

“You got to pick out your own name? That’s pretty cool.” Din smiled.

“Yeah, they gave me a girly one when I was born, but I’m not a girl!” Razmuth exclaimed with force. Din blinked. He did not conclude from any part of their interaction that Razmuth was a girl. His voice was high and his features were a bit round, but almost all children were. He shrugged, taking note for whatever potential, future need for the information.

_ “Hey Raz! Come on!”  _ There were a number of children kicking a ball around on the limmie field closer to the outer edge of the U of the courtyard. One had called out to Razmuth, waving for him to return to join them. Razmuth turned and swatted at them.

_ “Hold on, just play without me till I get back!”  _ The group of children all looked at each other and shrugged before continuing to kick their limmie ball around. Din squinted in the glint of the midday sun as he watched them shuffle around, dribbling the ball back and forth. Razmuth appeared in his vision, blocking his view of the limmie field.

“Did you wanna play with us. I kept seeing you looking at us play.” Razmuth gestured towards the group on the field. He had noticed Din almost everyday, looking off at them in the distance. Din seemed lonely, and Razmuth wanted to make him feel welcome. He knew that Din was a foundling, and had probably gone through a lot in the past few weeks.

“Oh no, that's okay.” Din declined. “I don’t think I feel up to playing right now actually.”

“Okay, well if you ever want to play you can just come over. We play almost every day during break time!” Din nodded, acknowledging Razmuth’s offer. Razmuth waved and turned to run back to the limmie field. Razmuth thought it best not to press the offer if Din was not interested.

Din turned back around to face his food. He scooped up a bit of the meat and vegetables in one forkful and shoved it into his mouth. He chewed thoughtfully, the weight in his heart feeling a bit lighter.

Over the next week or so, as long as it was nice out he sat outside at the same table and watched Razmuth and the other children kick the limmie ball around. They appeared to argue over having Razmuth on their team every time, rotating captains of some sort and he was always picked first. On the days when it rained he sat inside, but the approximate same group would rush outside with the ball.

The adults never scolded the children for playing in the bad weather. They simply had them change clothes when they came back in. To discourage competition and physical activity seemed against the Mandalorian people’s way of life. But he just observed and watched how the game unfolded, trying to pick up on the rules.

He was picked up later that day by his guardian. A lovely and kind human woman named Elba. While she was in the same clan as many who swore to the creed, she did not wear a helmet. She explained to Din when he first arrived that she left her face to be seen so foundlings like him would not be scared. He was not the first foundling she helped raise, and would likely not be the last.

“Have you played limmie with that boy yet?” She asked, her hand resting on Din’s shoulder, her voice carried in a loving way. Din's feet dragged a bit on the ground while they walked from the learning academy to their home a few blocks away.

_ “Nayc”  _ He responded in Mando’a. He had been catching on a bit at school, but was still struggling. He tried to stay positive. Language was something that would certainly take time.

_“You should try to hang out with the children your age.”_ Elba insisted. Din looked up at her, his mouth tilting to one side of his face.  
“Children?” He guessed. It was really the only part of the sentence he picked up on. Elba’s kind eyes narrowed when her lips curved up into a smile. She was understanding of his struggle, and knew he was growing frustrated with not understanding everyone, so she was trying to talk Mando'a to him more. 

“I was saying you should play with them. They’re your age. It’ll help with your language and I think you’d enjoy playing some games with people your age.” She suggested, poking him softly on the shoulder with her finger. 

“I like playing checkers with you though.” He shrugged. “I have fun doing that.” Elba gave a chuckle, rubbing her hand on his back as they continued their walk home.

  
  


It was the middle of the next week when Din finally decided he would approach Razmuth. He spied him outside a classroom down the hall from his own. Din had been learning in a cultural class with some other foundlings but was now on his way to the dining area to eat his lunch, as per usual. 

"Hello!" Din waved weakly. He was standing a few feet behind Razmuth who was rummaging through his backpack. Hearing the voice, Razmuth stood up and turned around. He was surprised to see Din. Even after his offer to play, Din had continued to watch them from afar and Razmuth had worried that he scared Din somehow.

"Well hi! I didn't know if I was going to hear from you again." Razmuth smiled, excited to see Din. He pulled his backpack up over his shoulders and gestured for Din to follow him down the hall when he began to walk away. 

"Were you guys gonna play ball again today?" Din hesitantly followed after Razmuth. Razmuth was taller than Din at this point, though he had learned that he was actually a few years younger than himself. He trailed slightly behind him and to the right.

"Ball?" Razmuth had a look of thought on his face for a moment. "Limmie! Oh, some of the others probably are, but I started some uhh." He searched for the word he was looking for in basic and put his arms in a long weapon holding stance. "Staff! Some staff training today, so I'm tired."

"Oh.." Din trailed off. Of course the day he finally had the guts to ask, Razmuth would not be playing.

"I'll come eat with you though at your picnic table if you don’t want to play with the others. I'm hungry!" Din's eyes light up. Not as fun as Limmie, but he would take it.

It was nice to sit with someone else for once while he ate besides the occasional instructor who came and asked him how he was doing. That was a hard question to answer. 

He felt tired, overwhelmed, and lonely. But he was also starting to feel safe, taken care of and above all else grateful. These people had immediately taken him in as their own. He tried not to think about the vision of the large droid opening the hatch he was hiding in, but rather the helmet of the Mandalorian who had reached out their hand.

Those were hard things to ignore. But it felt easier when he began making friends. A girl in his language class from the town he was taken from, an older kid who was not yet old enough to swear to the creed, but wore armor helped him with some of his studies after classes, and now Razmuth. They were all very kind and people he considered friends, more or less.

And that was the way things had stayed for a while. Becoming friends with Razmuth lead Din to a whole new group of people to become friends with. It was slow going, but Elba watched with joy as Din gained confidence. He picked up on the new language he was learning, started enjoying social time with his friends and was doing well in his knowledge based courses. Within the next year he even started combat training.

“Why did some of the other foundlings from my classes disappear?” Din asked Elba one night as they set the table for dinner. The kitchen of their small apartment smelt of wonderful smoked meat and sauce.

“Well, we ask all foundlings the same question when they arrive. If they would like to go home.” Elba explained. It was a bit of a loaded question for a child, but the Mandolorians were careful to offer foundlings options. They were not like their enemies, the Jedi, they did not take children from their home worlds without the thought of returning them. “You said you wanted to stay here, that you did not have anyone else to go to.”

Din nodded. That was correct. He had no other family, and with his parents gone, it made the most sense to him to stay where he could be protected and have a home of some sort.

“It is a Mandalorian’s duty to care for foundlings until they are old enough to leave if they wish, or swear themselves to the creed.”

“But not all creeds are the same?” Din asked.

“Right. We all have slightly different beliefs and roles we must take in our life. Your dedication is up to you, but once you swear you cannot take back your words. Being a Mandalorian is not just being from Mandalore. Mandalore is not just a place.” Elba reached down to Din and placed her pointer finger on his chest.  _ “It's a people, and a way of life, and you can take it with you wherever you go.” _

She offered him a smile and he smiled back. He did not understand word for word what she had said, but he got the point. Being a Mandalorian was sacred to your heart, and your pledge was your bind to the people. He intended to fulfill that pledge.  He had learned so much from these people in such little time. He felt less afraid, he saw how strong he could be in both mind and body. He would become strong so that nothing like what happened to him would happen to others.


	2. Strange in a Familiar Land

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Din and Razmuth have become the best of friends. Din continues to excel at his development in the fighting corps and he is enjoying his new life. But something is strange about his new friend.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We meet some of Razmuth's family and get to spend some time with Din and Razmuth as children. Children are kind of hard to write.

" _ I don't think that looks right."  _ Din prodded at the piece of metal and wiring that he and Razmuth were leaning over. They were sitting across the small coffee table in the main room of Razmuth's house.

" _What's not to look right, it's just a fuse."_ Razmuth fussed, sliding the plate, its connected wiring and the control box back across the table to himself. The two of them were working on an assignment from school. It was mid level electrical composition. A box with some wiring, switches and an end box with a series of lights that when activated, had to light and make sound in sequence correctly as assigned to each switch.

" _ You two had best not be setting a bomb off in my house."  _ A voice came from the kitchen just to the right of the room where the boys had their tools lane out.

" _ Nyac, mama. It's just a project we have to turn in to set up a fuse."  _ Razmuth rebutted to his mother. He reached over to the switch and flipped it on. Only one of the lights on the board was working. They both starred at the little blinking bulb with dismay.

"Shit" Razmuth swore in basic which earned him a glare from his mother. Her eyes narrowed as she peaked her head around the corner of the room. As she was sworn to the creed and there was a non-family member in the house she wore her helmet. That did not stop Razmuth from realizing he was being given a ‘look’. She turned sharply back around to her work in the kitchen for dinner, indicating her displeasure.

"I told you you're not doing it right." Din slid the pieces back over in front of himself.

" _ I told you you're not doing it right."  _ Razmuth mocked in Mando'a.

"If you're gonna be mean we don't have to do this project together. I’ll ask Naylen!" Din snapped. He picked up the small cold welder from the table and leaned back down to examine the piece of equipment.

_ "Sometimes it may be best to agree to disagree."  _ Razmuth's mother chimed. She hated to hear her son and his best friend argue.  _ "Why don't you both just do your own projects, whoever's come out best just helps the other with theirs." _

_ “We have to do it together.”  _ Razmuth explained.  _ “It’s an exercise.. I guess. Team building.”  _ He folded his arms and puffed. He and Din were becoming increasingly annoyed with each other and the project.

Razmuth’s mother frowned from beneath her visor. She knew both Din and her son to be stubborn. Even though in this last year they had come to be best of friends, they also could find it hard to agree upon things. They were just both incredibly strong-willed, Din always seeming to be the more reasonable of the two. Xian’ki would jokingly blame this trait on her wife, Korra, Razmuth’s other mother.

“ _ Come on Raz, I’m better at electrical stuff and you know it. This is how it should look.”  _ Din turned the plate around that he had been messing with to show it to Razmuth, his probe tool poking at the set up of the wiring he had constructed. Razmuth leaned over from across the table, his arms still folded tightly at his chest. Razmuth knew this to be true.

They spent the rest of the evening before dinner making a few more changes to the wiring. Their growing tempers died down. Din explained to Razmuth where he believed he was going wrong, being patient and thorough so his friend would know what to do in the future. Din had the project finished before dinner was even ready.

_ “Will Korra be joining us this evening?”  _ Din asked of Razmuth’s other mother’s whereabouts as he was given a plate at the coffee table. Xian’ki had served them a type of hash. A starchy root vegetable chopped into tiny fried cubes mixed with egg, sausage, sweet and spicy pepper, onions and other assortments of spices. The fragrance had been making Din’s belly rumble for nearly twenty minutes now. He loved when Elba cooked for the two of them, but Razmuth’s mother was the best cook he knew. He would never admit such to Elba though.

_ “No, Korra is off-world doing work with the fighting corps.”  _ Xian’ki smiled at Din from under her helmet.  _ “She’s likely to be gone for almost the rest of the year,”  _ There was detectable sadness in her voice and Din could see Razmuth frowning from the other side of the table.  _ “We’re to be meeting her near the end of the year though to spend some time together as a family. Then she’ll be back a few months later to stay for a while. Razmuth is nearly ready to swear to the creed and then we’ll all probably go on mission when that happens.” _

Din frowned. He was unaware of this plan. It was probably nearly two years away, but Razmuth leaving, not knowing when he would return? The thought made Din’s stomach flop.

Razmuth was just a year or so younger than himself and if he was to swear to the creed he would be exceedingly younger than most. But Razmuth excelled at nearly everything from what Din observed. From limmie, to fighting, to shooting. His physical ability was almost unheard of for someone so young. He was small, so often the larger kids got the better of him, but he always seemed to move as if he knew what was coming and would fall with grace if he could not out maneuver them. His aim was superior. Sometimes when he and Razmuth were alone, he would even shoot with his eyes closed and could nearly get a bullseye.

- _ ”Why don’t you do that kind of stuff around the adults?” Din asked after Razmuth had shot another can that Din had slingshot into the sky for him. His eyes had been closed. _

_ “I don’t want to be a show off and I think the other kids would get mad at me.” Razmuth shrugged. “Will you sling another one?” Din nodded, loading another empty metal can into a child-like sling shot toy.  _

_ “Ready?” _

_ “Ready!” Razmuth shut his eyes and picked up his rifle. Din shot, the can going flying into the air and away from them. Only moments later a clang rang out and the can had dropped to the ground, a hole from the low caliber laser bolt singed through it. _

_ The two switched roles back and forth. Din could shoot the can, but his eyes had to be open. They did this rotation until they ran out of cans. After they ran out of ammo, they spent time cleaning up the hillside that rested at the edges of the fighting corp encampment town that they called home. _

_ “How do you do that?” _

_ “Do what?” Razmuth laughed as he bent over and picked up a can. _

_ “You know what.” Din laughed as well, gently elbowing Razmuth. _

_ “I don’t know.” He shrugged. “I just see it, even with my eyes closed.” He paused. “Well I don’t really see it, but I do? I don’t know. It’s just always been that way. I don’t like when I have the durasteel helmets on though, I feel like it’s not the same.” He explained. _

_ “Can you teach me how to do that?” Din laughed and jumped in front of Razmuth, kicking a can from his grasp. Razmuth stood up straight and swiped his arm out, catching Din’s hand, causing him to drop his collection of cans. Din frowned and tried to do the same to Razmuth but he jumped out of the way. _

_ “You can’t really teach people how to do it I don’t think.” Razmuth leaped out of the way the second time as well when Din tried to knock his cans out of his hand. He tried once more, but failed when Din decided to just tackle Razmuth, sending the cans and the two of them tumbling down the hill. _

_ When they landed softly at the bottom of the slope, Razmuth sat up and kicked some dirt in Din’s direction. Din had neatly face planted but had already propped himself up on his elbows. They stared at each other for a few moments, their brows curved inward. _

_ “What?” Din chimed, obviously satisfied with the result of his attack. Razmuth could not keep a straight face and the two of them burst into laughter.- _

Din had figured Razmuth would swear to the creed before him. He had been born on Mandalore after all. His parents were mandalorians, he had been raised in the way long before Din even arrived on the planet. It still made him sad, nonetheless. But he tried not to fret. Whenever he expressed his concern, Razmuth would always encourage him. He would tell Din that he would be ready soon after himself and that they could group up together on mission. Any time they spent apart would be small.

_ “Thank you for the dinner Mama.”  _ Razmuth thanked his mother when he set both his and Din’s cleared plate into the kitchen sink.

_ “Yes, thank you very much Xian’ki.”  _ Din thanked her as well, always happy for the hospitality the family gave him.

It was not long after the boys had helped clean up the mess from dinner that there was a knock at the door. So as not to disturb the boys who were washing dishes in the kitchen, Xian’ki strode to the door and opened it, her voice pleasant through her modulator.

_ “Evening Elba,” She greeted. “The boys were just cleaning up if you want to come inside I’ll grab Din.”  _

It was not long before the boys had said their goodbyes and Elba and Din were on their way home. The light of the street lamps was beginning to overtake the light from the mandalorian sun. A few other folks, some with helmets, some without milled about the street alongside them. Din was walking extra carefully, carrying his and Razmuth’s project in his hands.

_ “What’s that?”  _ Elba asked, eyeing her foundling as he fumbled to grip the contraption in the most effective way.

_ “Project. Raz asked me to hang onto it. Said I was better off holding it, he was liable to lose it or break it.”  _ Din explained, lengthening his stride in an attempt to keep up with his guardian.  _ “I might make some more modifications to it anyway. Raz is good at fighting and stuff but he’s not genius when it comes to this stuff.” _

_ “Oh and you are?”  _ Elba laughed at Din’s comment. Her smile was kind and bright, genuinely amused by her foundling’s comment.

_ “Better than him anyway.”  _ The two did not talk much more for the rest of the trip home. It was not too long. They arrived at their dwelling and Din set his box and backpack down on their table in the middle of the entry room. He stood staring at it for some time before plopping down on the couch.

_ “Did you know that Raz can shoot with his eyes closed?”  _ He was staring at the wall, his arms were folded. He was not mad about his friend’s skill, just genuinely curious if perhaps Elba had answers.

_ “Whatever are you talking about my dear?”  _ Elba stood with her arms now crossed as well, her head tilting with curiosity at Din’s words.  _ “I mean, anyone can shoot a gun with their eyes closed.”  _ She shifted her weight to one hip and propped her weight onto one leg. She was not sure what Din was referring to.

_ “I know that,”  _ He looked over to her.  _ “I mean like, when we go and shoot cans, he closes his eyes and doesn’t miss.”  _ Elba was taken a bit off guard by this statement.

_ “I uh.. No.”  _ She stammered.  _ “No, I didn’t know that. He’s done that more than once?” _

_ “Yeah, wasn’t some kind of lucky shot. He does it all the time.”  _ Din looked to her, expecting, or maybe just hoping for an explanation. He kicked his heels absently into the skirt of the couch.

Elba felt a pang of guilt. It was obvious to her that he was asking for some kind of explanation to his friend’s ability. Or extreme luck. She tried to keep the frown off her face, her blue eyes darting around the room as she tried to think of something to satisfy Din.

_ “That sounds like quite the skill.”  _ Was all she came up with. She wanted to bonk herself on the head. That was not really a good answer.

_ “Yeah he’s really good. He doesn’t like to tell people though. He’s afraid that the other kids won’t like him.”  _ Din sat up a bit more on the couch. Elba walked over and joined him, taking one of her legs up to rest her ankle on her knee.

_ “Do you think of him any differently because of this?”  _ She questioned. Din shook his head no. Din had concluded not long after meeting Razmuth that he was, in fact, different. He was a boy, but not like himself. He was a good fighter, but in a different way. He was stubborn. But he cared for Razmuth all the same.

_ “I get a little jealous but that’s just the way it is I guess. I’m good for someone my age too, my teachers say so. Especially only having been here for a little while.”  _ Din looked over to her and shrugged.  _ “I’m better at fixing stuff than he is though.”  _ A hint of mischief entered Din’s eyes.

Elba took her hand and brushed some of the hair out of Din’s eyes, her eyes creasing with her smile.

“Everyone is special in their own way.” She spoke in basic now, wanting to guarantee that Din understood what she was saying. “And you two make a great team with your set of skills. I wouldn’t be surprised that when both of you take your creed you’re often paired together for missions. Brotherhood and the bonds we share are not taken lightly in our clan.”

“I know.” He smiled back at her before hopping off the couch. He grabbed his stuff and wandered down the hall. “Thanks for the chat, I’m going to go to bed now though.” And with that he was off. 

Elba laughed to herself. Her foundling was growing up fast. She sat on the couch for sometime though after Din had gone and put himself to bed. She was deep in thought the entire time she readied herself for sleep. Even as she brushed her teeth and put her sleep clothes on and laid in her own bed. She contemplated the curious actions of Razmuth that Din had pointed out. It was not like he was a danger, but she was somewhat concerned and curious. She did not consider herself young, and knew stories and tales of people who did the same things. She did not sleep entirely well that evening, staring at the ceiling of her room for a long time before she finally was able to close her eyes.


End file.
